Associations between important life events, secure attachment, social support, and psychological well-being in adolescents: a longitudinal study
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2022-02-04
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en
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A quarter of the Dutch population has experienced more than one important life event in childhood. Experiencing a traumatic event in childhood seems to be a predictor of potentially serious mental and physical consequences in adulthood. This longitudinal study aims to gain more insight into the associations between psychological well-being in adolescence and important life events, the degree of secure attachment and social support to enhance resilience in adolescents who experienced traumatic events in their childhood. A total of 82 Dutch individuals has been followed since 1998 from the age of 15 months and various measures were performed since then. It was examined whether psychological well-being could be predicted from the degree of secure attachment, social support and important life events. Subsequently, it was assessed whether social support functioned as a moderator on the relation between important life events and psychological well-being in adolescence. The results show that adolescents who experienced more important life events during their childhood report more symptoms of psychological dysfunction. Moreover, adolescents who experience more social support report a lower score on the construct psychoneuroticism of the SCL-90. Social support did not function as a mediator between important life events and psychological well-being. Finally, the results show no significant association between a more insecure attached infant and less psychological well-being in later life. The results are discussed in relation to the developmental tasks of adolescents and the regulation of emotions. The current study implicates a need for a range of follow-up studies within the research field of developmental psychology to adequately enhance resilience in adolescents who experienced important life events during childhood.
Key words: Traumatic events, Important life events, Developmental psychology, Psychological well-being, Secure attachment, Social support
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Faculteit der Sociale Wetenschappen